Harry Potter author JK Rowling has responded to calls to boycott Hogwarts Legacy over her comments regarding the transgender community, saying that those who refuse to play the upcoming game should also refuse to read the Harry Potter books and watch the movies.
JK Rowling tweets about Hogwarts Legacy boycott plan
Rowling responded to writer and filmmaker Jessie Earl on Twitter, after Earl posted a tweet saying that supporting Hogwarts Legacy is “harmful,” as Rowling uses her “ongoing platform to target and also justify her continued targeting of trans people is harmful to trans people.”
In response, Rowling tweeted that “the truly righteous wouldn’t just burn their books and movies but the local library, anything with an owl on it and their own pet dogs.”
Deeply disappointed @jessiegender doesn’t realise purethink is incompatible with owning ANYTHING connected with me, in ANY form. The truly righteous wouldn’t just burn their books and movies but the local library, anything with an owl on it and their own pet dogs. #DoBetter 1/2 pic.twitter.com/LqANqab8Km
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 17, 2022
And as for this, I’m appalled. This individual actually advocates reading the books because “nobody needs to know”. All fine and dandy until you get drunk and accidentally quote one, sonny. “I never did it in public” won’t save you when the police see your Hufflepuff socks. 2/2 pic.twitter.com/QTQOTfpjtA
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 17, 2022
Rowling has been widely criticized in recent years due to comments she has made about the transgender community and public appearances she has made alongside many in the gender-critical community. Her outspokenness on the topic caused Harry Potter actors Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint to speak out against the author, with Radcliffe publishing an open letter in which he stated: “Transgender women are women.”
Hogwarts Legacy publisher WB Games also somewhat distanced themselves from Rowling in a statement released back in 2020, in which they said she was “not directly involved in the creation of the game,” though praised her “extraordinary body of writing.” WB Games’ president David Haddad also commented on the controversy surrounding the author, saying that “she’s entitled to express her personal opinion on social media.”
